Which Fitness Tracker Is the Most Accurate? The Results Are In

With so many fitness trackers to choose from, it can be hard to
figure out which one is right for you. Features like sleep measuring and
activity tracking — not to mention what the tracker looks like itself —
all can influence whether or not you think it's worth it to drop
hundreds of dollars on your quantified self. If you're worried about
calorie count accuracy, you're in luck; researchers have found which trackers are the most accurate when estimating calories burned.

To test accuracy, researchers had 60 men and women wear eight
different trackers while they exercised for 69 minutes. The participants
also wore a metabolic analyzer in order to establish an accurate count
of their calorie burn. Afterward, data from the trackers were compared
with the accurate calorie burn count.

The results, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise,
were encouraging: most trackers were within what the researchers called
"reasonably accurate" estimates, within 10 to 15 percent of the
accurate number. The winner? The BodyMedia Fit, which earned a 9.3
percent error rating.

You may recognize the BodyMedia Fit as the large upper-arm device that Biggest Loser
contestants wear, and while it's not as sleek as other available
trackers, it features several measurements to get an accurate rating. It
uses an accelerometer, a measurement called galvanic skin response —
which measures how active you are based on your sweat — as well as a
measurement of the heat your muscles and skin produce when you move.
Taken together, these sensors produce a calorie count that is just as
accurate, the study says, as research models.

11 Reasons You Aren’t Seeing Results From Your Workouts

It’s easy to become disheartened when you’ve worked hard and feel
like you’re getting nowhere, but instead of quitting, make sure that you
aren’t making any of these simple mistakes:

1. You stop when it hurts

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Working out is tough, but nothing worth having ever came easy. If you
stop when it starts to hurt then you will never see the results you
crave; obviously if the pain is coming from an injury then you must
definitely stop (or adjust your workout to be more suitable), but
otherwise, stopping when you feel like your muscles are just starting to
work really hard is pointless.

Your muscles are hurting because you are pushing them, and that’s
what’s going to make them grow and give you the coveted toned
appearance. Anyone can do a workout and stop when it starts to get
tough, but it’s a waste of time if you are looking for great abs and a
bubble butt, because the only way you will achieve those results is if
you push yourself past the pain barrier and work as hard as you can.

2. Your weights aren’t heavy enough

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There’s a common misconception that
women shouldn’t lift heavy weights…ignore that! If the weights you’re
lifting aren’t making you work hard then they aren’t doing anything. If
you choose not to lift heavy weights for fear of getting “too big”,
please stop worrying; lifting heavy weights will increase the strength
of your muscles, but, unless you have an abnormally large amount of
testosterone (or steroids) in your body, it won’t increase the size of
them by a large amount so you don’t have to worry about getting bulky.

If you lift heavy weights and follow a clean, healthy diet, then your
muscles will become stronger and denser, and you will burn fat;
resulting in the toned appearance many women crave.

3. Your weights are too heavy

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In the same way that lifting weights that are too light can hinder
your results, lifting weights that are too heavy can also stop you from
reaping the rewards. You need to find a weight that you are able to lift
repeatedly for a number of reps, but one that’s not easy for you so
that you ensure you’re pushing yourself, but not putting yourself at
risk of injury.

Lifting weights that are too heavy can prevent you from seeing
results because, if you are struggling to lift the weights to the point
that you fail to achieve the desired number of reps, then you aren’t
completing the workout and, as reps are crucial to lifting weights, you
are ruining your progress. If you’re unsure how heavy you should be
lifting, check out my recent article to find out more.

4. You’re not really into it

After a long or stressful day many people believe that doing a
workout with half the effort is better than not doing one at all…surely
something is better than nothing, right!? Not entirely. Unfortunately,
exercising without the proper form and effort is not a worthwhile
workout because you aren’t putting enough energy into it to reap the
rewards, and, if you’re really not into it, you could actually damage
your muscles by not being careful.

We all have days when we don’t feel like getting our workout clothes
on and going for it, but on those days, instead of completing your usual
hour-long routine at the gym with half the effort you would normally
put in, simply halve the workout time. Not only will halving the length
of the workout make you feel better because you will know that it will
be over quicker, but it could also actually spur you on and make you
work harder than you would’ve done if you had stayed for the full hour.

Something is better than nothing, but putting 100% effort
into half the workout time is far more beneficial than putting 50%
effort into the full workout.

5. You’re focusing too much on how you look

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We all like to get a glance of ourselves in the mirror while working
out to boost our confidence and, let’s be honest, ego. However, if you
spend your whole workout worrying about how you look while doing the
exercises, then you won’t be putting enough effort into the workout. Put
quite simply; if you still look good at the end of your workout then
you didn’t work hard enough.

While exercising we all sweat, we all pull very strange faces and we
all either make absurd noises or swear a lot. It’s practically
impossible to look good during a proper workout, so don’t fight the
inevitable because the only person who’s bothered by how you look while
you lift those weights is you…and if anyone else is bothered,
then they clearly aren’t paying enough attention to their own workout.
So stop worrying and go for it; you’ll see results much sooner if you
do.

The Daily Hiit workouts are perfect for you if you really don’t like
people watching you at the gym because you can do them all in the
comfort of your own home.

6. You’re exercising too much

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This may sound silly, but if you workout too much then it can
actually take longer for you to see results. When you lift weights you
are actually making tiny tears in your muscles (don’t worry – it’s ok),
and when you rest, your body repairs the muscle and rebuilds it stronger
than before, so rest days are vital. Missing rest days can actually
make you more prone to injury too, because, if you aren’t giving your
muscles the adequate amount of time to recover, then they are prone to
injury.

I workout on average five days a week, dependent on my schedule, and
that gives my body time to recover after I’ve pushed really hard.

7. You’re not consistent with your schedule

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Busy lives can often get in the way and make it hard for us to find
the time to workout, but if you are repeatedly taking time out of your
workout schedule then it will take much longer for you to see results.
It’s unfortunately not as simple as making up for missed workouts; doing
an extra three workouts this week won’t make up for missing three last
week. You need to be consistent to see results.

8. You haven’t cleaned up your diet

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Working out regularly will only produce results if you also follow a
clean, healthy lifestyle. It’s no good spending hours in the gym if you
then eat junk when you get home; all you will be doing is eating more
calories than you burned during your workout.

The old mantra of “I’ve worked hard so I deserve it” is to blame for
many people’s inability to see results from their workouts. If you’ve
worked hard at the gym and burned 700 calories, but then come home and
eat a big slice of cake as your reward for working hard, then you’re
undoing all of your hard work. It’s unlikely that you will ever see
results if you don’t clean up your diet alongside your workouts.

If you started working out with the hope that you would look like
Jamie Eason within a week, then you were only setting yourself up to
fail because, sadly, you aren’t going to see results immediately. You
will undoubtedly feel better and healthier within days, but the abs you
crave will take far more time to achieve. Setting unrealistic targets
will only make it harder for you because you will repeatedly feel
disappointed, when you in fact should celebrate your achievements, no
matter how small.

Don’t expect miracles; don’t be upset if you measure yourself after
one week and don’t see a difference, because it takes time. Don’t get
disheartened because, once you start to see results it will be one of
the best feelings ever. Keep going, and remember that you get out of
this what you put in.

10. You only ever work your favourite muscle groups

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We’ve all seen the pictures of people who “forget” to train legs,
and, although that’s not what I’m getting at, it is important to this
point because, repeatedly only training the muscle groups you enjoy
working on will not help you to burn fat from your whole body as much as
working different muscle groups consistently does. Your whole body
needs to be pushed hard for you to see results.

11. You are doing the same workout you’ve been doing for months

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If your workout routine used to produce results, but lately you’ve
not been getting anywhere with it, then it’s time for you to switch it
up. There’s no specific time frame after which it’s recommended that you
should change your routine, but a basic guide is, if you start to feel
like your workout is getting easy and not in any way pushing you, then
it’s time to change it.

When you do the same thing repeatedly your body starts to become more
efficient at doing it, meaning that, although you struggled initially
and it worked really well for you, your body will begin to adjust to it,
making it harder for you to burn the fat. By regularly changing your
workouts you will keep it fresh, and your body won’t know what’s coming
so won’t be able to adapt to it, meaning you will see results.

If anyone's looking for a quick yoga-based workout that takes only 10-15
mins. a day, you can try the Five Tibetan Rites. I do these every
morning before I eat or drink. Not only does it work the entire body,
builds strength and lung capacity, but also increases energy flow both
inside and out. The goal is to have the breath AND body move together
during this practice. This would also make a great supplement to any
exercise routine.

The goal (if you're a beginner) is to start
with 7 reps in each rite a day, slowly increase the reps to 14, then
finally to 21, but don't go over that number. These numbers are
sufficient in increasing vitality in the body.

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